1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to vehicle monitoring and messaging systems and, in particular, to a vehicle monitoring system and method capable of efficiently obtaining and maintaining vehicle schedule information that is used to monitor travel of a vehicle.
2. Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,020, entitled, xe2x80x9cADVANCE NOTIFICATION SYSTEM AND METHOD,xe2x80x9d which is incorporated herein by reference, describes an advance notification system that provides users with notice of an impending arrival of a vehicle at a particular location. In this regard, a location sensor, such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, is attached to a vehicle associated with the system. Based on the output of the location sensor, the location of the vehicle is monitored by a control unit or control units located on the vehicle and/or at a stationary base station remotely located from the vehicle. When it is determined that the vehicle is within a predefined proximity (i.e., a particular time or distance) from a particular location of interest to a user (e.g., a vehicle stop), a notification message is transmitted to the user to notify the user of the impending arrival of the vehicle. The user may then prepare for the impending arrival of the vehicle in response to the notification message.
There are a variety of passenger and/or package transportation services pickup and/or delivery applications that may utilize the advance notification system. However, as the number of users and/or vehicle stops associated with the services being offered increases, the complexity of the advance notification can increase dramatically. For example, a regional package transportation service that services a major metropolitan city may deliver tens of thousands of packages per day. Likewise, passenger transportation services servicing a metropolitan area or a county-wide school system may transport many thousands of passengers per day as well.
Therefore, the process of producing the vehicle schedules (i.e., the routes and times that the vehicle should travel) required to transport the packages or passengers can be quite burdensome and complicated. Furthermore, when an advance notification system is employed, schedules should indicate not only the route for each vehicle but should also indicate when notification messages should be transmitted for each transported package or passenger. The information indicating when the users are to be notified or where a delivery or pick-up is to occur may be provided by each individual user. Needless to say, obtaining and maintaining the necessary information to provide users with advance notification of arrivals of vehicles can be quite burdensome and complicated in many applications.
Further adding to the complexity of the advance notification system, the data necessary for producing the appropriate vehicle schedules is not always readily available. For example, when the location sensor used to monitor a vehicle is a GPS sensor, the location values produced by sensor are coordinate values (e.g., longitude and latitude values). These coordinate values should be compared to the location values defining the vehicle""s schedule to determine when notification messages should be transmitted. Therefore, the location values produced by the sensor should be compatible with the location values of the vehicle schedule to enable accurate comparisons. However, the data input into the system that is used to define the vehicle schedule is not necessarily compatible with the location values produced by the sensor. For example, when a user would like to be picked-up or to receive delivery at a particular location, the user often knows the address of the location but does not know the coordinate values of the location. Therefore, the user may only provide address information, which is incompatible with the location values produced by the sensor, and additional steps must be taken to enable accurate comparisons.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry for a vehicle monitoring system and method for efficiently obtaining and maintaining vehicle schedule information that may be used to monitor the travel of vehicles.
The present invention overcomes many inadequacies and deficiencies of the prior art, as discussed hereinbefore. In general, the present invention provides a vehicle monitoring system and method for obtaining and maintaining vehicle schedule information and for monitoring vehicles based on the vehicle schedule information so that a notification message may be transmitted to notify at least one user when a particular vehicle is within a predefined proximity of a particular location.
In a broad sense, the system of the present invention includes a mapping application and a data manager. The mapping application receives data identifying a particular location and automatically translates this data into a set of location values. The mapping application then stores the foregoing set of location values. The data manager retrieves the stored set of location values and monitors travel of a vehicle based on location values produced by a location sensor coupled to the vehicle. The data manager compares a set of location values produced by the sensor to the stored set of location values to determine when the vehicle is within a predefined proximity of the particular location. When the data manager determines that the vehicle is within the predefined proximity of the particular location, the data manager causes a notification message to be transmitted to a user communications device to notify a user of an impending arrival of the vehicle at the particular location.
In accordance with another feature of the present invention, the mapping application produces a map displaying symbols representing various locations. The user selects from the map the particular location that is to be used to determine when the notification message is to be generated.
In accordance with another feature of the present invention, the mapping application receives data identifying a plurality of locations where items are to be delivered or picked-up by one of the vehicles being monitored by the system or method of the present invention. Based on this data, the mapping application automatically defines a set of routes that are to be driven by the foregoing vehicles. The mapping application then outputs the routes that are to be driven by each of the vehicles and, if desired, which items are to be transported by each vehicle.
The present invention can also be viewed as providing a method for tracking vehicles.
The method can be broadly conceptualized by the following steps: receiving data identifying a particular location from said user interface device; automatically translating the data received in the receiving step into a set of location values; storing the set of location values; monitoring travel of a vehicle based on location values produced by a location sensor coupled to the vehicle; comparing the set of the location values produced by the location sensor to the set of location values stored in the storing step; determining when the vehicle is within a predefined proximity of the particular location based on the comparing step; causing a notification message to be transmitted to a user communications device in response to a determination in the determining step that the vehicle is within the predefined proximity of the particular location; and notifying a user of an impending arrival of the vehicle at the location via the notification message.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art upon examination of the following detailed description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is intended that all such features and advantages be included herein within the teachings of the present invention, as set forth herein and as sought to be protected by the claims.